My mom drew in a sharp breath and her eyes grew wide. ‘Lizzie, oh my God, are you serious? I don’t like the sound of this at all. That man is a maniac. And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me or your father right away.’

I arched an eyebrow at the irony of her words. ‘Really, Mom?’

She pursed her lips and nodded. ‘You’re right, I’m sorry. Okay, so what did they tell you? Are you in danger? Do you need to move home until he’s caught?’

I exhaled loudly and leaned back into the couch. Her reaction was exactly as I’d predicted. ‘It’s scary but I don’t need to move home right now Mom, really. What they’ve told me was that they are confident someone from my biological mother’s side of the family is The Tri-State Killer.’ My mom was about to say something but I cut her off. ‘I know Mom, I know. It’s freaking me out too. They gave me a few details about the case and said they think my uncle is a prime suspect. At this time Cris fits the profile better than anyone else. Mom, I’ve been going out there and visiting him and my aunt and … it just couldn’t be him. They’ve been so nice to me. He takes care of sick animals for Christ’s sake.’

‘If you’re so sure it’s not him, then why are you worried?’ I wanted to hug my mom for prioritizing being supportive rather than voicing her motherly concerns. I could tell she was working hard to keep the panic from exploding out of her.

‘I don’t know, Mom. Between the things the FBI told me and some additional details I got from this journalist who’s covered a lot of the case, I’m questioning everything. They got into my head and now I can’t stop thinking about it. When I went up there today it was like I could hear them in my ear and I started seeing suspicious things everywhere. I hate that I’m thinking these awful things about him when he hasn’t done anything bad to me. I don’t know what to do.’

‘What makes you think it could be him? What exactly did you see?’